Aethlon Medical, Inc., the pioneer in creating affinity biofiltration devices to treat life-threatening diseases, has signed a pact with the National Institute of Virology (NIV) to start testing of the Aethlon Hemopurifier as a candidate to treat chikungunya, a debilitating mosquito-borne virus that is not addressed with proven antiviral drug or vaccine therapies.  

In late 2013, chikungunya was identified for the first time in the Americas on islands in the Caribbean. Since then, transmission of the virus has been identified in 44 countries or territories throughout the Americas with more than 1.2 million suspected cases reported to the Pan American Health Organisation.

The NIV is one of the major institutes of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and is a World Health Organisation (WHO) collaborating centre for arbovirus and haemorrhagic virus research. In previous NIV studies, the Aethlon Hemopurifier was validated to capture dengue virus from human blood serum.

The Aethlon Hemopurifier is an affinity biofiltration device that targets the rapid elimination of infectious viruses and cancer promoting exosomes from the circulatory system of treated individuals. In the treatment of infectious viral pathogens, the Hemopurifier provides a candidate solution for antiviral drug resistance and serves as a first-line countermeasure against viruses that are not addressed with proven drug therapies. To date, Hemopurifier therapy has been successfully administered to individuals infected with Ebola virus (Ebola), Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and the Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

A US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved clinical study of Hemopurifier therapy is currently being conducted in HCV-infected end-stage renal disease patients. Additionally, Hemopurifier clinical protocols to treat Ebola virus have recently been approved by both the FDA and the Medical Devices Bureau of Health Canada.

Time Magazine recently named the Hemopurifier to their list of 'Top 25 Inventions" and "The 11 Most Remarkable Advances in Healthcare."

Beyond human treatment experiences, pre-clinical Hemopurifier studies have validated the capture of some of world's deadliest pathogens. These include: Dengue haemorrhagic fever, Lassa hemorrhagic fever, H5N1 avian influenza, H1N1 swine flu virus, the reconstructed 1918 influenza virus, West Nile virus and Vaccinia and Monkeypox, which serve as models for human smallpox infection. US clinical progression of Hemopurifier therapy is being advanced under FDA approved clinical studies.

Aethlon Medical is also investigating the use of Hemopurifier therapy to capture tumor-derived exosomes, a significant unaddressed therapeutic target in cancer care. Tumour-derived exosomes promote cancer progression through multiple mechanisms, which include seeding the spread of metastasis and direct suppression of the immune response.  In regards to our therapeutic mechanism of action, the Hemopurifier incorporates a patented affinity technique that allows for selective binding to a unique structure that resides on the surface of tumour-derived exosomes and glycoproteins that coat infectious viruses.